Emergence biases in molecular evolution
Timothy Fuqua, Nikolaos Vakirlis
TLDR
This paper formalizes 'emergence bias,' a molecular predisposition influencing the acquisition of new genetic functions, crucial for evolutionary innovation.
Key contributions
- Formalizes "emergence bias" as a molecular predisposition.
- Defines it as biasing genetic sequences for or against new functions.
- Synthesizes prior observations of these biases in promoters, enhancers, and proteins.
- Speculates on its molecular basis and role in evolutionary innovations.
Why it matters
This paper formalizes 'emergence bias,' a critical concept for understanding how new genetic functions emerge. It unifies prior observations, providing a framework to study molecular predispositions that shape evolutionary innovations.
Original Abstract
Biases in molecular evolution can significantly influence evolutionary trajectories. They have been described in a variety of contexts such as development and mutation, but not for acquiring new functions (i.e. emergence). Here, we formalize the term, emergence bias, as the molecular predisposition that, upon mutation, biases a genetic sequence towards or against gaining new functions or causing new phenotypes. These biases have been observed in previous studies for the emergence of promoters, enhancers, and de novo proteins, but never formally characterized as such. In this Perspective piece, we describe these studies and synthesize their findings through the prism of a unifying term, emergence bias, to provide support for this new concept , and speculate on its molecular underpinnings. We believe that emergence biases may play an important role in evolutionary innovations.
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